Based on "the Interim Regula
tion of Lawyers of the People's Republic of
China"(issued in 1980), the All China Lawyers
Association (ACLA), founded in July of
1986, is a social organization as a legal person
and a self-disciplined professional body
for lawyers at national level which by law
carries out professional administration over
lawyers. All lawyers of the People's Republic
of China are members of ACLA and the
local lawyers associations are group members
of ACLA. At present, ACLA has 31
group members, which are lawyers associations
of provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities and nearly 110,000 individual
members.
The aim of the ACLA is to unite and educate
its members to protect the dignity of the Constitution
and law; to be faithful to the legal
profession and abide by professional ethics
and rules of conduct; to defend lawful rights
and interests of its members; to enhance professional
competence of lawyers; to
strengthen professional self-regulation in order
to promote sound development of the legal
profession and endeavor to build up socialist
state with rule of law and to develop
social civilization and progress.
The highest governing body of ACLA is the
National Lawyers Congress. The ACLA holds
its National Lawyers Congress every three
years to elect its Council which will then elect
the President, Vice Presidents and Executive
Council Members. The President and Vice
Presidents are members of Executive Council
as well. When the Congress and the Council
adjourn, the Executive Council exercises
the authority of the Council and carries out
decisions made by the Congress. The Secretary
General presides routine work of the
secretariat.
By the "LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
OF CHINA ON LAWYERS"(1997),
ACLA's functions are as follows:
• Assuring that lawyers practise pursuant to
law and protecting lawyers' lawful rights
and interests;
• Summarizing and exchanging lawyers' work
experience;
• Organizing professional training for
lawyers;
• Conducting education in , inspection of ,
and supervision over lawyer's rofessional
ethics and rules of conduct;
• Organizing lawyers to develop exchanges
with foreign countries;
• Mediating disputes arising from lawyers'
practice;
• Other duties provided for by law.
A lawyers association gives awards to or disciplines
lawyers in accordance with the articles
of association.
Since its founding, ACLA has played great
role in giving professional guidance to
lawyers, exchanging working experience,
protecting lawyers legitimate rights and
strengthening non-governmental exchanges
with foreign lawyers and has made contribution
to the improvement of professional administration
system and to the development
of Chinese legal profession.
Led by the Secretary General, the ACLA's
executive body is composed of General
Office, Membership Section, Section on Law
Committees, Training Section and nternational
Section (i.e China International Lawyers
Exchange Centre), Information and Research
Section, Editorial Department of "Chinese
Lawyers", an official magazine of the
ACLA and ACLA website.
